


The Two Years Between

by Katblu42



Category: Kagaku Ninja Tai Gatchaman & Related Fandoms, Kagaku Ninja Tai Gatchaman | Science Ninja Team Gatchaman
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-22
Updated: 2016-11-22
Packaged: 2018-08-31 20:48:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8593183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katblu42/pseuds/Katblu42
Summary: What happens to The Science Ninja Team in the time between the end of the first Galactor war and the beginning of the next?  Each character gives us a glimpse into their thoughts and emotions at various times over the course of the two year period.





	1. Nambu

**Author's Note:**

> These characters belong to Tatsunoko Productions. I have borrowed them purely for pleasure – not for profit.  
> This is my first ever attempt at any fan fiction, and as such it has been written in an attempt to allow non-Gatchaman-fans to understand it. I hope you like it!  
> Thanks to Ebonyswanne and GrumpyGhostOwl for beta reading and encouragement! I may not have heeded all of their good advice, so any remaining mistakes are mine.

The war is over; X has gone, returned to the far reaches of space from whence he came.  Berg Katse is dead, having taken a suicidal leap into the magma, unable to cope with X’s abandonment and betrayal.  The rest of Galactor’s forces have disappeared, scattered, gone to ground avoiding detection by UN forces and ISO agents.  The nations and people of Earth are beginning the process of returning to normal after the evil Black Hole Operation was halted at the last moment.  Clean-up and rebuilding are beginning, but there was so much destruction . . .

 

**Nambu**

**19 September**

                Joe’s gone.  Of the five I had always worried most about Joe, but I never expected to lose him like this.  I failed him.  He would never have said so, but I have.  He had so much anger, so much venom toward Galactor, even as a boy.  Of course he didn’t know who Galactor were until _I_ told him who was behind the assassination of his parents and the attempt on his own young life.  Even before his injuries had fully healed he was hell bent on vengeance.  He needed love, compassion, nurturing.  I tried to give him those things, but in reality I press-ganged him into the program, used the strength of his anger and determination and turned it to my own purpose.  As proud as I am of the young man he became and the things he has achieved, how can I ever be sure I did the right thing by him?  Did he know I was proud of him?  I was never good at showing them that, telling them I loved them as if they were my own children.

                The others have asked if there will be a memorial, a ceremony, a burial . . . there’s no body to bury.  I don’t think I can bring myself to bury another empty coffin for this boy.  Officially Condor Joe remains listed as Missing-In-Action, but with his medical condition deteriorating so quickly, and the injuries the others observed at Kross Karakorum . . .

                Then there’s the difficulty of Joe Asakura the race driver.  Figuring out a plausible explanation for his disappearance - death - won’t be a simple task.  If I fabricate a car accident it will fit his cover occupation, but the racing community will know that there was no such crash . . .  So many details to finalise when I just want to be able to grieve for my son!

                I feel so much guilt.  It’s my fault.  I should have insisted on more checks – more frequent, more thorough – to make sure there were no lasting effects from the shrapnel injury, to make sure it had all truly been removed.  It would have meant forcing him to undergo medical tests, physically restraining him if it came to it.  It’s not surprising he hated doctors, medical procedures and tests so much. He endured so many months of treatment after the explosion, at only eight years of age.  Being part of the team has meant regular physicals and a regime of inoculations and desensitisation to various toxins, not to mention the treatment of wounds.  Then there are the treatments I exposed him to when the missile fragments embedded in his skull were deemed too difficult to operate on . . . it’s my fault.  I worried that his anger, his determination to wipe out Galactor, his stubborn tendency to “shoot first, worry about the rest later” would get him killed.  In the end it was complications from _that_ injury.

                The team.  They all feel this loss deeply too.  We should be revelling in this new-found peace, enjoying the moment, knowing the Earth is safe.  The victory is hollow.  It has come at such a high price, so many lives lost . . . 

                None of us would be here without Joe, but here we are, without him.

 

**21 November**

                Time passes, work and life go on.  A small memorial stone is set in place in the grounds of the old villa, and a private ceremony has been held by the team as a farewell to Joe.  The Asakura cover story has been finalised and the racing community has mourned his loss.  Unable to bear the thought of clearing out Joe’s trailor, I had it towed and stored “as is” in the garage at the villa.  Ken gave me his copy of the key.  I guess he feels the same as I do about going through Joe’s things.

                The small amounts of data, equipment and evidence we were able to salvage from Kross Karakorum have so far yielded little in the way of useful information.  ISO staff and UN personnel scoured the entire area for almost five weeks.  We still don’t know what caused the Black Hole machine to explode, averting certain catastrophe.  And no trace of Joe was ever found.

                The UN has officially asked the ISO to provide assistance in rebuilding essential infrastructure in some of the poorest and most isolated areas affected by the devastation of the Black Hole Operation.  This extra work on top of the continued re-establishment of the Mantle Project will be enough to keep the departments I oversee busy for some months.

                With no sign of any significant news of Galactor being active anywhere the ISO sees no need for the Science Ninja Team to remain on active duty.  They have essentially been disbanded indefinitely.  I suspect Ken has warned them all to stay fit and alert in case the need to return to duty should arise.  They’ve trained and worked together for almost eight years.  Hard habits to break, especially since they are all still so young.  I just hope they all adjust well to civilian life.  They deserve to be able to enjoy the peace they fought so hard for.

 

**17 September**

               Little by little a year goes by.  ISO and UN field agents have had little if anything to report about Galactor activity.  There are known “pockets” of former Galactor employees that have banded together, but they remain quiet and unthreatening.  They seem to have no strong leadership.  Ken periodically questions the perceived lack of information, but the truth is there is nothing to tell.  I know he would investigate for himself if I gave the word, but it is not necessary.  The agents have been thorough in their investigations and found no significant threat.

                The team all came together at Joe’s memorial stone on the anniversary of . . . the end of the war.  It was good to see them all together again, but painfully obvious that an important piece was missing from the family portrait.  His absence affects the way they interact with each other.  I found myself waiting for his voice to fill the silences the others periodically left, and looking for him in the background of their activities.

                Ken was solitary for most of the day – as though he wanted to keep the whole event at arm’s length.  They were so close for so long, like two sides of a single coin in many ways.  Such an unlikely pairing at first, thrown together by circumstances beyond their control, reluctant friends.  Having little experience with children myself at that time, the two of them were there for each other in ways I did not know how to be.  They each had a different way of approaching any given task, different challenges to face, but both would stubbornly persevere until the challenge had been met and the task completed.  They competed with each other in everything – ruthlessly at times, but when they found a need to come together to achieve something they were ingenious.  Within a few years they knew each other so well they could instinctively read each other – one would know what the other was about to do without having to communicate in any way – an invaluable resource for a combat team. The emotional bond between them was a strong one, one that perhaps even death has not been able to completely sever.

                Joe would have turned 21 not too long ago, a milestone Ken reached just a few weeks ago.  Jun tried to organise a celebration, but Ken was strongly opposed to making a fuss.  I suspect Ken is feeling at a loose end without the responsibility of leading the team to keep him occupied.  He has expressed interest in a mission for the ISO requiring a pilot.  If I agree to give him this posting he will be based in Agrika for three to four months.  It could be good for him, and he has more than the required qualifications.  He would be an asset to the mission.

 

**25 March**

                Another six months and reports have begun coming in suggesting these “pockets” of Galactor are growing in numbers and beginning to communicate with each other on a regular basis.  It seems they may be rebuilding their ranks, organising themselves, preparing.  There’s no indication of what they might be preparing for.

                I’ve begun making plans of my own.  If the team needs to return to active duty they will need new vehicles, new weapons, a new base . . . a new member.

                The God Phoenix has been restored, but I’ve decided to keep it at the mansion base as a back-up, or a museum piece.  There are new designs, newer technology, new weaponry, safer features – a New God Phoenix in the works.  And the new base being designed and constructed offshore to house everything and everyone we need for the Mantle Project will be capable of acting as a base of operations for the team as well.

                It’s going to be difficult finding a fifth team member who will bring the right qualities to complete the team dynamic.  It will be harder getting the others to accept a new member.  They’ll think I’m trying to replace Joe.  Impossible shoes to fill.  He was their brother.  No one will ever be able to fully fill that role.  But they will need a fifth.  If the team are required again they will be on their own this time – there is no Red Impulse Squadron to back them up any more.  So many lives lost . . .

 

**18 July**

                Three more months pass and I’ve begun receiving anonymous reports on Galactor activities.  Whoever is sending them seems to have a familiar turn of phrase, the wording, the grammar, the coding used are all so familiar, but I can’t place why.  After a month of sporadic reports from this mysterious “friend” it suddenly hits me – it’s like reading through old mission reports written by Joe.

                I know it’s not possible.  I know it can’t be Joe, but I find myself hoping . . . No, it’s not him.  It can’t be him.  I need to stop letting my emotions cloud my thinking, stop formulating hypotheses about how he could have survived.  It’s too much to hope that he could be alive.  But whoever this “friend” is, the information is accurate and reliable.  It’s worrying enough for me to tell Ken to start the team on a regular training schedule.  I suspect they have been doing so unofficially since Ken returned from Agrika.  They can use the training facilities at the offshore base – it’s nearing completion.

                Galactor’s activity is increasing faster than I had anticipated.  The new vehicles are not quite ready, the shortlist of potential new team members is still too long on names and too short on suitable qualities and I still haven’t found a way to tell the team they will soon be joined by a new G2 – the Hawk.  At least they are ready.  The team have been working hard – they are as fit, fast and strong as I had hoped they would be.  They have grown so much in so many ways since the last time I faced the prospect of sending them into battle for the first time.

 

**1 October**

                X has returned.  It’s been confirmed.  He arrived shortly before our new “friend” began sending me information.  After two years of fretful peace X has come back, appointed a new commander and begun new attacks on new targets with the same callous disregard for innocent lives.  Scientists have been kidnapped and a transport ship has disappeared close to Easton Island.  The UN and members of the ISO board have requested Gatchaman.

                The Science Ninja Team is back on active duty, the New God Phoenix has successfully launched from G-Town with their new G2 – Getz, the Hawk, and all my old anxieties have returned.

                I pray for their success.


	2. Ryu

**Ryu**

**21 November**

                I still can’t believe it.  The war is over and we don’t have to fight any more.  But we lost Joe.  He never even told us he was sick, but that was the way he was.  He would fight until his very last breath – fight against Galactor, fight to save the Earth, fight to protect us – and never let on that he was even hurting.  Fight until his last breath.  Well, that’s exactly what he did.  He had nothing left to give when we found him.  He’d exhausted every reserve just to show us the entrance to Galactor’s headquarters.  It hurt to hear him say goodbye, but not as much as it hurt to leave him there.  And then when we came back to take him home he was gone.

                It’s not the first time he’s gone that far to complete a mission.  We thought we’d lost him back then too.  Way back when Galactor’s Mole Mech was tearing up the city, Joe got hit by missile fragments that penetrated the back of his helmet, and into his skull.  We thought he was dead.  He managed to hang on until we got him back to Nambu Hakase.  The injury was real bad.  Hakase said operating would kill him.  Instead he tried an experimental treatment, which had its own risks – it could have killed Joe too.  He survived, but the treatment didn’t work.  We had to leave him behind that day too, in the medical bay at the base. 

                The Mole Mech appeared again and we had to go out to fight it.  Without Joe and his car on board the God Phoenix couldn’t use its main weapons – the Bird Missiles and the Firebird mode.  There wasn’t much we could do.  Then we saw Joe.  He’d pretty much crawled from his bed to his car and was struggling to drive to us as fast as he could.  He was in real bad shape when he made it on board, too weak for the pressure of Firebird mode.  The Mole Mech managed to grab hold of the God Phoenix and I couldn’t manoeuvre her free.  At that proximity Ken was concerned that if we fired a Bird Missile we’d get caught in a severe shock wave that would be too much for Joe.  Somehow, while the rest of us tried to come up with some other way to defeat the Mole Mech, Joe managed to drag himself to the firing control and get off a shot.  The shockwave sent us into a wild spin and it took me a few seconds to pull us out of it.  Somehow, by some miracle, that spin removed the missile fragment from Joe’s head. 

                He was willing to die for us that day.  Now he really has.  He’s really gone.  I wish we could have at least brought him home.  Maybe I should have insisted that I get him back on board the God Phoenix before joining the others inside the base, but how could I argue with Ken?  I just feel like I let him down.  I’d give anything to go back in time and do things differently.

                We have the memorial stone at Nambu Hakase’s villa, but he’s not really there.  I still wonder where he is.  And I miss him.  He wasn’t great at conversations, but sometimes when I’m out on the boat alone I talk to him.  It’s not that unlike the conversations we used to have when he was alive – he never said much, but he listened.  The difference is now I get no answers at all.  He used to point out what I needed to know in a few honest – if harsh – words.  You always knew exactly where you stood with Joe.  And his advice on girls was way better than Ken’s.

                I couldn’t explain to Dad and Seiji why I was so down during the weeks I spent visiting them in the village.  I think Dad just decided I had been fired from my job at the ISO and was too ashamed to say so.  They aren’t allowed to know what I’ve been doing all this time.  It’s difficult wanting to talk to them about the things that have happened over the last two years, about my friends, my work, the things I’m proud of and the things I’m sad about, but it’s all classified.  Still, Dad encouraged me in my new venture and even offered to put up some of his own money to help me set up my little charter business at the marina.

                Ken asked us all to maintain our training, to stay in shape just in case . . . but I think our days of active duty are done.  Still, I do my part – Ken may not be our commander if we’re not an active combat unit, but I know an order when I hear one.   Jun tries to keep us all together – she invites me over for dinner, or organises days where the four of us can all be together.  It’s always good to see the others but it’s never like it was before, when there were five. 

 

**1 May**

                It took me a few months to get the charter business up and running properly, but now that it’s been open a little over a year it’s busy enough for me to take on a part time assistant.  Just as well since the team now have regular training sessions together.  Since Ken got back from working overseas he’s been hinting at increased Galactor activity.  He has the four of us meet up once a week to train so we can be ready if the call up to active duty comes.  The old training drills don’t work the same as they used to . . . not without Joe.  I guess we kind of took for granted how much he contributed to the way we worked as a team.  We are slowly beginning to get used to the idea of being a team of four.

 

**5 August**

                Now Hakase’s worried about Galactor again too.  Looks like he has been for a while.  He’s asked us to officially start training together again, and our training sessions have moved to a new base.  The place is huge, and really well equipped.  Whole families live down here for weeks at a time while staff are working on stuff for the many aspects of the Mantle Project.  There are scientists, engineers, researchers, data analysists and technicians and all sorts of support staff.  Then there’s all the equipment that’s been installed in the base: computers, communications systems, tracking and scanning equipment - everything - and all the people to operate and maintain it.  There are huge engineering bays for designing, building and maintaining machinery, vehicles and equipment as part of the Mantle Project, and the technical crews to do the work.  Then on top of all that there’s an army of staff maintaining the base itself.  It runs like an entire underwater city, complete with shops and recreation areas, banks, restaurants - and the gym facilities are awesome.

                Hakase has been designing new vehicles for the team.  He’s even had me train on a simulator for the New God Phoenix.  The simulator is based on the plans and technical specifications for the new ship, which isn’t complete yet.  Hakase has let me see it a couple of times, and I’ve already suggested improvements from the original plans.  I’m hoping to convince him to let me design an auto pilot function.  I‘m looking forward to being able to fly the real thing, get the feel of her, understand what she’s like to manoeuvre in the real world.  Ken’s been hassling for us all to be able to train in our new vehicles, but they’re just not ready.  For now I guess we’ll just have to be content with the new weapons.  If Nambu Hakase has gone to these lengths to prepare then I guess we really do have to worry about Galactor again.

 

**1 October**

                I’ve been hearing rumours that Hakase’s replacing Joe.  We all made a pact that we would be a team of four and leave the G2 spot empty.  If Nambu Hakase says we have to have five how is a new guy gonna fit in if we’ve never even seen him let alone had a chance to train with him and see what he can do?

                We’ve been called to a briefing.  This is it.  Galactor’s finally shown their face again.  Old enemy, new weapons, new vehicles . . . new guy on the team?  I hope he can hold his own.  I hope we can trust him.  And I hope Galactor doesn’t have too many new tricks up their sleeve.

                Here we go again.


	3. Jinpei

**Jinpei**

**30 September**

We won, Galactor lost and the world is safe.  I should be happy, but how can I be when I’ve lost my oldest brother?  Joe could be mean and grumpy and scary a lot of the time, but he really looked out for us – all of us – just like a real big brother.  Ken does too, but as our leader he had lots of other responsibilities to think about too.  Joe somehow always managed to fight his own battles while keeping a protective eye on all of us.  Over the last two years he has saved the lives of each one of us more than once – Nambu Hakase too.  In the end we couldn’t do the same for him.

                I think Ken feels the saddest.  He won’t even talk about Joe.  It must hurt too much.  They knew each other the longest, and sometimes it was like they could read each other’s thoughts they knew each other so well.  They fought lots too, but I guess it’s like when Jun and I fight – we still think of each other as family and we never want to hurt each other, even though sometimes we do.

                Jun cries a lot, especially when she thinks I’m not around to see.  I get it though, it’s hard – walking into the Snack J and looking over to the end of the bar, or the corner booth and expecting to see Joe there, just like he used to be so often in the past.  She has Ken to cuddle up to when she gets sad though.  It would be cool if the two of them get together – Jun’s only wanted that since, like, forever.  

                She’s been pretty good at helping me when I get sad thinking of Joe.  We talk about him a lot.  Jun says it’s good to remember how he was when we were happy, it helps us feel happier.  Of course Joe was better at being grumpy and sarcastic than happy, but I remember how much he enjoyed racing, especially when he won, which was pretty often.  We talk about how even though it seemed like he often said mean things to us and pointed out anything we did wrong, he also did a lot of things that showed how much he loved us. He was great at keeping secrets, and the best accomplice for planning practical jokes.   I miss him a lot.

 

**1 September**

                Since we are officially not on call for duty any more Hakase agreed to let me go to a real school for the first time ever.  It’s kinda strange being around kids my own age, but really cool too.  Turns out I’m way ahead of most kids my age in some subjects, but not so good in others.  I get to play team sports now too, which is awesome.  Baseball, basketball, soccer and I’ve joined the swim team and the gymnastics team.  Ken says I’ll have no problem staying fit, but he’s warned me not to show off too much, especially in gymnastics, and I’m not allowed to compete in any martial arts.

                Jun and Ken have been kind of dating for a few months now, and at first I was really excited that they finally got together.  I spent a lot of the summer staying out of their way – helped Ryu out at the marina a lot and spent plenty of time with the guys from school.  I don’t think it’s really working out the way I hoped it would for them.  I get the feeling that despite how much they obviously love each other, there’s something just not quite right, but I know if I say anything they’ll just tell me it’s none of my business.  It is though.  Jun is my sister – as close to a blood relation as I’ve ever had.  For the first six years of my life she was the only family I had – she adopted me, she named me, she even gave me a birthday – the day she found me.  If she gets hurt it will hurt me too.

 

 

**1 May**

                Ken was away for the last few months working for Hakase – official ISO stuff he says he can’t talk about.  Now that he’s back we all have a training session together every week.  I don’t think it was Hakase’s idea. I think it was Ken’s, but I get the feeling there has to be a reason for us to be more serious about our training – like maybe Galactor’s not being quite so quiet anymore.  Part of me is pretty excited about getting another chance to fight those Galactor bastards and show them what I can do, but then I remember how there were some pretty scary times too, and it will be different with just four of us.  We all decided we can’t replace Joe.  We couldn’t accept anyone else in his place, it wouldn’t be right – he wouldn’t be part of the family.

 

 

 **5 August**

                Now I _know_ Hakase thinks Galactor is up to something.  He’s officially asked us to train and get back into combat ready status.  He’s letting us train at the new underwater base, which is amazing and huge, and like a whole moveable city just for ISO people and stuff.  And we’re getting new weapons and probably new vehicles too.  I went exploring the other day, testing my ninja stealth skills to see what’s in some of the parts of the base Hakase hasn’t shown us yet.  I’m pretty sure we have our own rooms here, like we could actually live here when we go back on active duty.

 

 

**1 October**

                We’re going back into battle.  Those Galactor bastards need to be shown who’s boss, and we’re the ones to do it.  We’ve got our new vehicles and the New God Phoenix – with a robot auto pilot and everything – plus our new weapons.  I don’t like the new guy though.  Hakase sprung him on us at the last minute, so we don’t know him or what he’s capable of, but he seems like an asshole and he treats me like a kid.  He better be able to fight – he’s got some unfillable shoes to fill, and so far he has a long way to go.

                Now let’s go kick some Galactor butt!


	4. Jun

**Jun**

**19 September**

                Our two year war against Galactor is over and it’s the worst day of my entire life.  Galactor was in the middle of implementing a plan with the potential to destroy the Earth and Nambu Hakase told us Joe was sick - dying, in fact – and had gone off on his own somewhere.  He’d been missing for some time before he tried to contact us to tell Ken something about a Galactor base.  The communication cut off so suddenly and so completely.  An awful feeling of dread settled firmly in the pit of my stomach.

                Hours later the Morse code message from Joe’s communicator came in, revealing the location of Galactor’s Kross Karakorum headquarters . . . and possibly Joe.  We knew it could be a trap, but we had to take the chance.  We had to find Joe.

                When we finally got there, crash landing the wounded God Phoenix, fighting off Galactor soldiers, searching for a way into the underground base . . . it wasn’t Joe we found.  Masaki and Onishii, the remaining members of Red Impulse showed us a way in.  It was they who had sent the Morse code message.  They’d seen Joe but had been unable to help him.  They had managed to repair the wristband enough to get the message out, but unfortunately their cover had been blown – they had been discovered and unwittingly led us into a trap.  Both of them were gunned down in front of us.  It was awful.  All we could do was fight our way back out to the surface and try to find another way in.

                We spread out through the fog, pursued by Galactor soldiers, trying to find the entrance.  Then I lost my footing, fell and was forced to roll to avoid the bullets being fired by the Galactor goon who had been following me.  I thought it was the end for me when I hit one of the stone statues, but when I looked up the laughing gunman went down . . . and I saw Joe.  He’d saved my life, killed the guy with one of his shuriken . . . and then he collapsed.  Crumpled to the ground.

                He looked so pale, so weak, exhausted . . . and all that blood . . . But he was determined to tell me we were at the entrance to the base, it was right by the statue where he was lying.  I called the others, knowing that it would bring Galactor soldiers too.  Once we were all with him he said goodbye to each of us.  He would never have done that if he thought he could survive.  None of us wanted to leave him there, alone and in pain, but we had a job to do, one the whole world was depending on.  He told us to go.

                The base was huge and the Black Hole machine seemed unstoppable.  Ken wanted to climb inside the thing to find a way to stop it.  I couldn’t let him do it – it would have been suicide.  I couldn’t bear the thought of losing him too.  I felt like a silly, scared little girl, begging him to stay with me - but he did.  Then the machine exploded.  I still don’t know how, or why, but we were safe.

                Joe wasn’t where we’d left him.  The landscape had changed with the departure of X, the last few quakes and the explosion.  We searched for hours, wanting to bring him home.  He deserved at least that and we couldn’t give it to him.  I’m sorry, Joe.

                We’ve fought so many other battles, seen a lot of devastation and many lives lost.  But this day the stakes were higher than ever and the friends we lost were close ones.  We lost more than we won today.  Losing Joe means we lost part of ourselves.

 

**15 April**

                I never thought I’d be able to say it, but Ken and I have been a couple for about four months now.  We spent a lot of time together when the war first ended just wanting to be near each other for comfort – shared grief.  Ken was great at being there for me when I lost it over the smallest things.  I’d find an old racing magazine that Joe left at the Snack J, or hear one of his favourite songs and the tears would start.  He was there to wrap me up in his arms and just hold me until the moment passed.  I knew he was hurting too, but he didn’t like to talk about it.

                There were nights early on where we would sit and talk until late and I’d fall asleep in Ken’s arms.  I’d wake in the morning to find that he’d left during the night.  I thought maybe it was because he didn’t want Jinpei asking awkward questions, or maybe he was uncomfortable spending the night with me.  And then it happened.  Jinpei went to visit Ryu and his family so I was going to be home alone for the weekend . . . Ken asked if I wanted him to stay.  I think my answer made it known in no uncertain terms that he could stay for the rest of my life!  It was well worth the long wait to finally share those intimate moments with each other, to finally give in to the love we’ve both felt for so long, to finally have him give in and show his true feelings for me. It wasn’t anything like I had imagined, but it was beautiful.

                Since then everything’s been going pretty well.  Jinpei’s attending the local school and getting fantastic grades in science and languages, and loving the chance to play sports and make friends his own age.  Ryu’s new business at the marina seems to be getting off to a solid start and keeping him pretty busy.  Ken’s been dividing his time between charter flights and mail runs from the airfield and test flights and the like for the ISO . . . and me.  The Snack J is finally starting to attract a regular crowd and turn a profit.  Of course being able to keep regular hours helps a lot – no more closing up at a moment’s notice, or not opening at all for days at a time.  I’ve employed Annie as a full time cook and her son Ben helps out as a server on the busiest nights of the week.  Jinpei’s pleased he doesn’t have to work here all the time any more, but he still chips in on weekends sometimes – I think he misses it!

 

**17 September**

                Yesterday was the first time all of us including Hakase have been together since the war ended.  I thought it would be a good idea to get together at Hakase’s villa and gather at Joe’s memorial stone to remember him.  It wasn’t the day I’d hoped for.

                We did share some happy memories and stories about Joe, but the mood was somewhat soured by things that were left unsaid.  It’s been a full year and it still hurts that we never found him.

                Ken still refuses to talk about Joe.  He spent most of the day avoiding everyone, especially me.  I thought this would be a chance for him to open up about how he feels, but it seems he keeps building up that wall.  I know that he and Joe were really close, and that Ken still feels the burden of having to leave Joe behind and lead us into the base.  I wish I could convince him that Joe would have understood, that there’s no reason for him to feel any guilt and that it’s ok to still be feeling the loss.

                Ryu and Jinpei seemed to spend the day trying to act like nothing has really changed, but every so often their banter would stop – as though they’d just heard Joe grumbling at them to shut-up and stop goofing around.  Hakase doesn’t really let much emotion show, but I noticed a far-away look in his eyes at times as he watched us.  I hope he knows how important he was to Joe, how important he is to all of us.  He’s the only father Jinpei and I have ever known.  It must have been hard for him to send us into each battle, and devastating to lose one of his adopted children.  I hope a simple hug was enough to convey all the things I wish I had the words to say to Hakase.

                I still miss Joe and I wish he was still here, but I take comfort in knowing he would want us to enjoy the peace we fought so hard for, to live our lives as fully as we can, while we can.  I have Jinpei and Ken, I have a dear friend in Ryu, and I have Hakase’s fatherly love and support.  I have the Snack J to keep me busy and a roof over my head, and no constant fear of Galactor attacking the Earth’s resources and people.  Simple things paid for in blood, sweat and tears.

                What worries me is Ken becoming more distant, more withdrawn.  He smiles much less often than he used to.  Something’s on his mind that he won’t share with me.  He says it’s not me, that I haven’t done anything wrong and that he still feels the same about me, but something is different between us.

                He’s slipping away from me and it feels like the harder I try to get him to trust me and open up to me about whatever burden he’s carrying, the further he pulls away.  I know he means it when he says he loves me – I can see it in those intense, blue eyes – but I can also see the pain he’s trying so hard to hide from me.  A relationship like ours should be a two-way street.  He’s been a great emotional support for me, why can’t he let me be the same for him?  Doesn’t he think I’m strong enough?  There’s nothing I feel I can’t share with him, why doesn’t he feel the same about me?

 

**12 May**

                Ken and I drifted apart.  Actually, he drifted away from me.  I still love him – I think I always will, and I suspect he still loves me, but there’s still something he holds back from me whenever we’re together.  He asked Hakase to put him on a posting in Agrika for the ISO.  Something fairly classified which meant he was away for a number of months.  He sent letters a few times, but they didn’t say the things I hoped they would.  Absence is supposed to make the heart grow fonder, but I guess this is the exception that proves the rule.  When he came back he was back to his old commander self, ignoring his feelings for me and mine for him. 

                Every now and then I still catch him giving me the look which fills my stomach with butterflies, but then it’s like he flicks a switch and the emotional screen is firmly fixed back in place.  How does he do that?  Why is he doing it now, after everything we shared.  All of Ken’s confusing mixed signals have returned.  How do I turn off all of these emotions?  Who can I turn to for advice?  Ken’s the only one I want to share my feelings with, and he’s the only one who won’t listen.

                Now I only really see Ken at the training sessions he’s scheduled for the team.  He’s hard on us at training.  Moves, techniques, formations that used to be second nature to us don’t work anymore without Joe.  Ken keeps reminding us we have to stop thinking of ourselves as five – we’re a team of four now.  So many years learning how to work together as a team, working hard to make our teamwork second nature, now we have to keep making adjustments for the hole left by our fallen Condor.

 

**5 August**

                Hakase must have new information about Galactor – or a new threat.  He’s asked us to train officially, at a new base.  He’s developing new vehicles and we will have new weapons.  He’s given us back our wristbands with new enhancements – upgrades.

                Ken knows more about what’s happening than he’s telling us too.  I guess our moment of peace was short-lived.  Like it or not we are preparing to go back into battle.  This time I feel less sure, less enthusiastic and more anxious.  This time I know what we are likely to face, and while I’m still sure what we are doing is right I regret the need for it more.  And this time our team is incomplete.  I suspect Hakase is looking for a fifth person but even if he finds one it will still seem that there’s an empty place amongst us.

 

 

 **1 October**

                 Déjà vu all over again.  Galactor are back to their old dirty tricks, and the Science Ninja Team is off on our first mission in two years.  First mission in the new vehicles, with the new weapons and the new Hawk on the team.  We really haven’t had a chance to get to know anything about Getz.  I want to trust him – after all, Hakase would not have put him on the team without thoroughly checking his background and credentials.  There’s just something a little off about him.  Still, no time to dwell on that now, we have a job to do.


	5. Ken

**Ken**

**21 November**

                Gone.  No trace.  We searched for hours, until exhaustion and orders from Nambu Hakase stopped us.  The extensive scouring of the area done by the ISO and UN over the following weeks turned up no sign of him either.  My team’s second, my best friend, my brother, gone.

                I hated leaving him there, hated having to order my team into the very heart of the danger facing the Earth when we should have all been there for our brother.  Duty over emotions.  Joe was always on at me about that, pushing my emotions aside to accomplish the best possible outcome for a mission.  He said it would catch up with me one day – and it did, around a year ago after my father died.  Well Joe, this time I took a leaf out of your book and used the turmoil of my emotions to fuel the fire to fight our enemies.  And now I’m left feeling empty.

                I’ll never know how he did it – found the strength to show us what we were searching for in the state he was in.  He’s taken some pretty bad knocks over the past two years – we all have, but nothing like that.  I tried to ignore the trail of blood we followed down those stairs into the base.  How the hell did he drag himself up there, all that way with those injuries?  He gave everything he had left to lead us in.  He deserved better than to be left out there to die alone.

                Forgive me, Joe.

                It should never have come to this.  I should have known he was sick, I should have seen it.  As the team’s leader, as his friend, I should have known something was wrong long before it got to the stage where he was unfit for a mission.  Weeks before that day he’d failed on a mission – his aim was off when he fired the Bird Missile, that was uncharacteristic enough in itself, but then to have fallen from the Tornado Fighter twice.  He barely even argued when I sent him back to the God Phoenix to wait for us to complete the mission.  As it turned out we needed him to rescue us.  I didn’t really hear it then, but he almost said it that day, that something was wrong.  I told him I needed him to fly the God Phoenix on a course that would enable him to fire a Bird Missile at a precise angle to intercept our co-ordinates.  He doubted himself – tried to tell me he wasn’t sure he could do it.  I didn’t listen.  I just told him we were counting on him, that we had no other way out.  He was not one to ever doubt his ability in a combat situation, especially if one of the team was in danger.  He saved us all that day – not for the first or last time.  Now I wonder exactly what inner struggle he went through to come to our rescue back then.

                I confronted him about the failures – we even came to blows over it.  He told me he was fine.  He would have said that even if he was missing a limb.  I know . . . knew him well enough to know he was not telling me the whole story.  I should have forced him to come clean, I should have forced him to get the medical attention he needed, I should have  . . . I should have seen he was scared of being taken off the team.  It’s the only thing that _could_ have scared him.

                Joe, why didn’t you tell me what was going on?  Or tell Hakase?  Why didn’t you let Hakase run the tests?  Why did it have to be you? . . . No, I don’t mean that.  We all swore we were willing to give our lives in the fight against Galactor.  It could have been any one of us . . . Dammit, Joe.

                Nambu Hakase agreed to erect a commemorative memorial stone for Joe by the cliff behind the villa.  There were only the five of us there, and there was very little in the way of ceremony, but it was a focal point for our shared grief.  Joe wouldn’t have wanted any fuss, but his loss leaves such a gaping hole we needed something.  It’s going to take a long time to heal this wound.

                Hakase picked a good spot.  Joe came here a lot when we were about 11 or 12, when he was angry, frustrated.  He’d work through his frustration by throwing rocks and stones out towards the waves.  Even then his throws could be deadly accurate.  The tree growing up between the rocks some 20 metres out below the cliff bears the evidence of that.

                He was the first to call us a family – the team and Nambu Hakase.  Family was so important to him – I guess that’s the Sicilian influence showing through.  He kind of adopted us all – the way Jun adopted Jinpei as her own brother.  I guess it was his way of letting us know how much we all meant to him.

                It was Joe who first called me his brother, too.  We were ten years old.  After my mother died I felt so alone.  Even though I’d been staying with Nambu Hakase and Joe for a lot of the time that she’d been sick, I suddenly felt lost.  At first I think Joe tried to give me space to work through my grief on my own, but then one night something changed.  I couldn’t sleep.  I was crying, feeling lonely and sorry for myself and wishing for my mother.  He came over to my bedside and instead of telling me to shut up and stop being such a baby, like I expected him to, he started singing.  Quietly at first.  In Italian.  It was a lullaby his mother had sung to him when he was little.  He kept singing until I fell asleep.  When I asked him about it the next day he just shrugged and said the song always made him feel like everything would be okay, so he thought it should work the same for his brother.

                Since then he’s always been there when I needed him most.  Until now.  Two sides of the same coin Hakase called us.  No wonder I feel so off balance without him.  The others are looking to me for the kind of strength I used to take from him.  How can I help them through their grief if I don’t know how to deal with my own?

 

**15 April**

                Jun has been so strong over the last few months.  She doesn’t think so, but I would have been lost without her.  Being there for her when she gave in to the tears was helping me.  Being able to just hold her close and show her how much I care about her, without trying to be her commander.  In those moments when she let herself be fragile I understood what Joe was trying to say at Kross Karakorum when he told Jun to be a normal girl.  Working, living, fighting with a team of all males for so long has caused her to unconsciously hide some of her softer side.  She’s beautiful, intelligent, determined, strong and graceful, and what she can do with explosives is nothing short of genius, but I think she has built up a bit of a defensive thick skin when it comes to showing her emotions.  And she’s never really had the chance to indulge in some of the interests that we don’t share – like fashion, dancing and art.  Now that we don’t have to fight Jun has the time to do all those things that other girls her age take for granted, shopping, dressing up for a date, even just reading those girly magazines she likes.  Little things that bring her happiness and make her all the more beautiful.

                It has felt good to be able to tell her my true feelings for her, to show her that I love her.  It feels good to put duty aside in favour of my emotions for once, instead of the other way around.  But it isn’t easy letting that go.  We’ve all been part of a team for so many years, and it’s always been my responsibility to lead them, make tough decisions that involve their welfare, keep them safe while ensuring dangerous missions are completed and the job we’ve been asked to do is successfully done.  For two years I’ve had to ignore my love for Jun and see her as a member of my team – nothing more.  It was the only way I could send her into potential danger when I needed to. 

                She still doesn’t know how close I came to losing it when she was taken by the Jigokillers.  We all thought burning that field of flowers would be signing her death warrant.  As the team leader I had to do what Nambu Hakase ordered us to do.  Only Joe knew how close I came . . . he was there to stop me literally crashing in flames, to save me from being the one who set the field alight and sealed Jun’s fate.  He was willing to take on that guilt for me. 

                I’ve never been so relieved to see Jun safe as I was when she survived that.  But I couldn’t show it, and I know that hurt her but if Galactor had ever found out my feelings for her they would have used it against me.  She would have been in even more danger.

               All that is behind us now, or it should be.  I can forget all of that when I look into those green eyes, when I’m holding her, loving her.

 

**17 September**

                Jun wanted to get everyone together to mark a year since we lost Joe.  She’s been on my back for a while about sharing memories of him.  Even after a year his ever present absence hangs over us, haunting me.  I can’t talk to her about it.  I don’t talk to anyone about it.  I still feel guilty about leaving him behind, and for not seeing the illness he’d been hiding.  The others talk of the times he came through for us and I hate myself for not doing the same for him.

                I know Jun worries that I’m holding something back from her, hiding something.  That’s the last thing I want to do, and I don’t want her to think I’m unhappy with the way things have been going between us.  It’s just not easy for me to get used to life without every day being governed by Galactor’s actions and keeping the team prepared for battle.  I’m barely 21 and more than half my life has been immersed in training, tactics, weapons, battles and commanding the team.  And almost all of that time I had my brother by my side as my second in command, my training partner and my closest friend.  Jun has been there through much of that time too, but I can’t talk to her the way I used to talk to Joe - that’s not the relationship she craves.  She’s got Jinpei and the Snack J – family to take care of, business to keep running, customers and staff to look after.  Civilian life seems to come easy to her.

                The airfield doesn’t make money.  I still fly the mail runs and a few charter flights, but the airfield is too small to turn a profit.  I still work for the ISO, mostly as a test pilot, but it doesn’t fill the void.  As much as I love being with Jun, being a couple – a family really, with Jinpei – it’s starting to feel like I’m in someone else’s ideal of civilian life.  I’m not sure if I fit in this picture.

 

**1 May**

                I’d heard about a posting in Agrika and told Nambu Hakase I wanted to take it.  It mostly entailed supply drops to remote ISO facilities, but it also gave me an opportunity to keep an eye on some former Galactor strongholds and report back to Hakase on any increase in activity.  On a few occasions I was required to receive information from other ISO agents too.

                While I missed the closeness with Jun, those four months were the most comfortable I’ve felt in a while.  I will always love Jun.  I just wasn’t ready for an ordinary life.  Maybe one day I’ll be able to give her the house with the yard and the kids and all the stuff she dreams about, if she’ll wait for me.

                For now though, it looks as though we should put future plans aside again.  I’ve seen enough to suspect there will come a time when the Science Ninja Team will be needed again.  I want us to be ready, so I’ve scheduled regular training sessions for the team.

                It looks like it will take a while to adapt to working as a four man team.  Joe’s been a part of us for so long we all instinctively expect him to be there as a part of a manoeuvre or formation.  And his sarcasm-laced jibes pointing out our weaknesses and pushing us to compete, to try harder – now I know how important that was in making us what we were.  It’s evident to me now how good he was at seeing things in the team that I learned later, how he looked after all of us like an older brother does.  How much harder will this be without that?

 

**5 August**

                Hakase has new information.  Galactor is becoming increasingly threatening.  I should have known he was not going to be caught unprepared.  New weapons are already complete, new vehicles on the way and a new base close enough to completion for us to use for training.

                The new facility is an entire city underwater, able to move from project to project, housing huge amounts of equipment not only for us, but for the Mantle Project.  Everything and everyone required to maintain the technical aspects . . . in short it’s a military base, a scientific research facility, state of the art engineering and mechanical facility and accommodation to house all the staff to run it all, plus all the facilities to support underwater living all combined into one.  And it already has a nick-name – G-Town.

                The training facilities are fantastic, and the team loves it.  Just as well, because when the time comes we’re likely to be living here a lot of the time.

 

**1 October**

                Finally, confirmation.  X has returned and Galactor has a new commander.  Scientists have been kidnapped.  The Science Ninja Team has been requested by the UN and ISO board.  Hakase could have given us a chance to get to know our new team member – Getz.  We haven’t even trained with him, but if Hakase trusts him then we’ll have to put our faith in that – at least until we see what he’s capable of. 

                Our first team flight in the New God Phoenix is a combat mission, and although the warship is new and the team has a lot to get used to, it all feels so familiar.  I just wish Hakase had chosen a different Birdstyle for the Hawk.  Seeing someone else in those colours is unsettling.  I turn towards the re-assuring flash of blue and burgundy and the face I see beneath the purple visor is not the one I’m looking for.

                Bring it on, Galactor – we’re ready for you.


	6. Joe

**Joe**

 

**(19 September)**

                It was over, I couldn’t do any more.  The rest was up to the team.  I had to hope they could finish what I couldn’t.  I know it hurt them to leave me behind – especially Ken – but they had to go.  It would not have helped me for them to have stayed; they had a more important job to do.  For once I was grateful for Ken’s ability to put aside his emotions to get the job done.

                I was starting to slide into the darkness when Ken put his Birdrang in my hands.  And then they went in.  As much as I wanted to hold on, wait for them, see them again, I couldn’t keep the darkness at bay, the exhaustion, the pain.  I don’t know how long I was there, drifting around the edges of that dark pit of unconsciousness when I heard the footsteps.  I knew it wasn’t one of the team.  I tried to grip the Birdrang ready to throw, but it slipped from my numb fingers.

                I forced my eyes to open, but couldn’t get them to focus on the figure standing over me.  He said nothing, just lifted me from the ground causing a sudden, intense tsunami of pain to sweep me into the darkness.

 

 

**18 January**

                Darkness starts dissolving into pain, confusion, disorientation, weakness, nausea, pain, darkness.

                Vague nightmares give way to pain, blurred vision, stone walls?, industrial lights?, voices?, dizziness, pain, dreamless darkness.

                Every time I briefly surface from the darkness brings more sensations – most of them unpleasant.  I can’t grasp what is happening to me, or where I am, or who is with me, or how or why I’m still alive.  I’m dimly aware that my condition is improving, but ashamed to admit I’m afraid because I don’t know whose hands I’m in – friend or foe.  I have no control over what’s being done to me, no say in my own fate and nothing familiar to cling to.

                By the time I’m able to stay awake long enough to get any answers, more than three months have passed since Kross Karakorum.  Dr Raphael – the man who found me, tells me he’s a scientist who used to work for Galactor.  Over time he reveals how he brought me to this place believing he could _rebuild_ me.  The process is long, difficult and complicated.  He explains that his expertise is in cybernetics.  I have to get my head around what’s being done to me.  I’ve been given a chance to cheat death, to live, to have a future I never thought I would.  But I won’t really be me anymore, will I?  Large parts of me will be mechanical, robotic, no longer human.

                He’s done a lot of work already, but most of the machinery enabling this progress is external.  Dr Raphael says eventually everything will become an internal part of me, integrated with my biological systems, organs, processes . . .   He says from here on he’s going to need increasing help and input from me to get me looking and feeling as close as possible to what I was before.  He thinks he’ll be able to “re-create” me so that even my friends, my team, my family will not know about the cybernetic “improvements” unless I choose to tell them.

                I keep wondering why he’s doing this to me – for me.  What is he going to want in return?

 

**8 June**

                Months have gone by.  Months of operations, painful physical rehabilitation and retraining – learning how to do things that used to be second nature.  Months of self-doubt – wondering if the end result would be worth all this.  Months of questions about what happened to X and Katse and the Black Hole Operation.  Months of loneliness – Dr Raphael is not good company.

                Dr Raphael has shown me every media report he could get his hands on, and explained the few things he knows first-hand.  X is from some other planet?  And he’s gone back there.  The Black Hole machine exploded, saving the Earth, but no one seems to have an explanation for what stopped it.  Did the team manage to find a way to destroy the machine?  Even Nambu Hakase’s press conference didn’t explain that.  Katse committed suicide?  After two years of trying to defeat that bastard and bring him to justice he took the easy way out, like the ultimate coward he was.  At least I know the rest of the team survived.

                I miss my family and I wonder if I will ever be able to go back to them.  Even if this process of “rebuilding” is successful, even if I come to terms with who, or what I am becoming, how can I go back to them after so long believing me to be dead?  How would I explain any of this to them?  How can I expect them to accept me when I still can’t accept it completely myself?

                Despite having to be involved in the process I’m still not sure how much I want to know about what Dr Raphael is really doing to me.  I don’t want to know how much of me is no longer me – no longer human.

                The easiest way for me to think of it is like a restoration project on an old, neglected car.  Many of the parts are so worn out or damaged they can’t be repaired.  Replacement parts have to be painstakingly hand-made and fitted.  Once installed each piece of machinery has to be delicately fine-tuned, and every new piece has to work cohesively with the old mechanisms to make the machine run perfectly.

                Problem is I’m not the mechanic.  In my case the hardest part is the process of integrating the new with the old.  You fit a new piece into an engine you turn it over to see how it runs, make a few adjustments, tinker here and there until you’re happy.  Dr Raphael is tinkering with biological “machinery” that I can’t turn off.  Every new piece he puts in means surgery and time for my body to recover afterwards, then the painful process of making it work right and learning how to use everything again.  I hate having to be awake and aware while Dr Raphael adjusts and experiments with cybernetic parts as he’s integrating them with my biological systems, particularly ones in the brain.  Recovery time after those sessions is long and unpleasant in itself.

                I’m beginning to regret starting this process in the first place – only I didn’t start it.  Maybe it would have been better if I’d just died like I was supposed to.  Maybe none of this would have happened at all if I had just told Nambu Hakase about those headaches when they first began . . .

 

**12 October**

                I wonder what they’re all doing now.  It’s been just over a year.  Does Jun still run the Snack J?  Has Ken finally admitted he loves her?  Does Jinpei still bring home all manner of animals and insects?  Has Ryu gone back to his family?  Is Hakase still so busy he forgets to eat lunch and dinner?  I wish I could see them, speak to them, hear their voices.  I miss them.

                At times I almost convince myself they are the reason I’m doing this – pushing myself to master my new body, learning to control the new parts and building up the strength in my old muscles to match.  But it’s too late to go back – to them I’m dead.  How much more pain would I be causing them if I were to re-appear after all this time?  I don’t want to put them through that.  Especially Ken.  It would be his father all over again.

                He was barely four when his father’s plane went down.  Even though every indication, every report said that Kentaro Washio was dead, Ken never believed it.  He spoke of his father with pride, believing he was missing and that one day he would return.  He held fast to that belief for over fifteen years.

                Then in one messed up day he finds out he was right, only to lose him again.  It turns out the guy we’d known for about a year as the leader of Red Impulse was really Ken’s dad.  He and Nambu Hakase had faked Kentaro’s death, and Hakase had been lying to Ken for that whole time.  Then Rat Bastard Washio senior gets into that rocket bound for a suicide mission into the Van Allen Belt to detonate the missile that would save the Earth.

                I’ve never seen Ken lose it so bad, or for so long as he did after that day.  He was so messed up, so angry, and taking it out on everyone – especially Galactor.  If Ken and I were truly two sides of the same coin like Hakase said, then Ken had flipped and I didn’t like the reflection of myself I was seeing in him.  Jun finally managed to snap him out of it, (I was so proud of her for the way she handled that), but I’m not sure he’s fully forgiven Nambu Hakase for the lie.

                Now I’m doing the same thing, letting everyone believe I’m dead.  Again.  Nambu Hakase had to fake my death once before too – when I was only eight.  He buried a coffin full of rocks for Georgio Asakura on BC Island to keep me safe from Galactor.  The world believes eight year old Georgio died in an explosion thirteen years ago.  Wouldn’t it be better to let the world go on believing Joe Asakura, Condor Joe died at Kross Karakorum?

 

**25 March**

                I’m beginning to understand what Dr Raphael wants from me.  I’m not the only cyborg here, but according to the doc I’m kind of like his masterpiece.  He took me from Kross Karakorum because of who I was – because of my training and experience in fighting against Galactor.  He also says, despite the wounds and the brain injury I’d suffered, I was physically fit, healthy enough for me to heal after all the work he had planned.  Turning me into a cyborg is less about saving my life, repairing the damage and more about turning me into some kind of weapon against Sosai X.

                He’s convinced X is returning.  He’s making me faster, stronger, more lethal than before.  It’s his plan to be able to track X’s location and send me in to destroy him.  I guess that’s a reasonable price to pay for Dr Raphael giving me the chance to live.  After all, most of my life has been geared towards fighting Galactor – in the name of vengeance for my parents, in the name of preservation of the Earth, in the name of the Science Ninja Team.  Pursuing the destruction of X will be a continuation of what I have been doing all that time – a chance to finally finish what I couldn’t at Kross Karakorum.  It will be different, harder without the team.  But, maybe, just maybe, this time they won’t need to put themselves in danger if Dr Raphael and I can finish X before he can really take hold again.

                The equipment Dr Raphael has down here rivals some of the stuff Hakase has at the ISO.  There’s equipment here that can be used to keep an eye on what the Galactor rank and file spread out across the world are up to.  Tracking and surveillance gear is top notch, and the communications capability is not too shabby either.  With a bit of a tweak here and there I can possibly even get an idea of what the ISO knows too.

 

**3 June**

                Dr Raphael is sure that X has returned to Earth.  He hasn’t been able to trace exactly where yet, but there’s a hell of a lot more activity amongst Galactor forces now.  I know Nambu Hakase is already making preparations to send the team back into action when Galactor finally makes a hostile move.  I find myself in a position where I could supply the ISO with important information, details that could help Hakase prepare for whatever’s coming – information that could keep my family safe.  Dr Raphael is not opposed to me helping the ISO from the shadows – and the team if it comes to that.  Essentially we have the same goal – eliminate the threat that Galactor and Sosai X pose to the Earth.  As long as Dr Raphael gets to see X destroyed he’ll be happy for any assistance the ISO gives us – he sees them as another tool, a weapon in his arsenal.

                The information I send Hakase’s way will be anonymous.  Now is not the time to start confusing things by appearing to come back from the dead.  Every message will be coded and the transmission path scrambled.  The last thing I want is for anyone to trace anything back here.

 

**30 September**

                I found out who Nambu Hakase was going to replace me with.  The Secret Service has been pretty clumsy with the level of security they’ve used when communicating with the ISO.  The guy’s name is Getz and he’s a former Secret Service agent.  On paper he looks like a decent choice, but I needed to see him, to check him out for myself.

                I never planned to actually meet him, but when I got close to his apartment I knew something wasn’t right.  It turned out Galactor found him before I did.  They’d worked him over pretty bad – a feeling I remembered well.  He refused to let me get him help.  He said he knew who I was and he was determined to tell me what he knew while he could.  Galactor had replaced him with a double who was already on his way to the G-Town base – the team was in danger.  He knew he didn’t have much time left, so he handed me an amulet and made me promise I would give it to his girlfriend.  He died in my arms.

                Kuso!  Hakase’s about to send the Science Ninja Team out on their first mission in two years with a Galactor spy in their midst.  They’re walking – no, running - head-long into a trap!  I have to get there first.  I have to help them.  I just pray I can make it in time. 


End file.
